Airbus announced a few weeks ago some sad news: no more A340 will be built, the program is dead, the A340 is no more – well there is still a couple of hundreds of A340 that will be flying for years all around the world but the A340 won’t be sold new anymore. Beside a few business configurated A340, no more A340 will be built and delivered.

I had amazing experiences aboard of A340s, I flew aboard of a couple of Turkish Airlines A340-300s a few years ago, but also, for one of the best flight of my life, I flew aboard of a Qatar Airways A340-600 – that you can see below. The A340-600 is to my opinion – I am not the only one who thinks that – the most comfortable “main stream” jetliner ever built – maybe with the A380. It offers a quiet and comfy experience – it is usually configurated with a sweat 2-4-2 set and the 4 engine jet is well known for its incredibly quiet cabin.

The A340 was created in the 80s by Airbus to compete with Boeing’s 777. In 1991 the first A340, a A340-2, flies. The A340-3 was sold at the same moment. At the end of the 90s, Airbus launched the A340-5 and A340-6, against the Boeing’s 777-2LR and 777-300(soon to be ER). Even though the last two variants were a commercial failure, Airbus sold less than 30 A340-5s and less than 100 A340-6s, the A340 has been pretty successful – Airbus sold around 400 A340s. The A340 was killed by the last gen Boeing 777-300ER, which was better in anyways, and by the on-going Airbus A350 program. The A350 is suppose to replace the A340 in Airbus’ catalog. Airbus hadn’t sold – to not business carriers – a A340 for years, it was almost natural to stop the program.

The A340 family fulfills many roles, the A340-2 is a 300 passengers plane which has a long range of 8 000 nm. It is smaller than the A340-3 which is able to carry more than 300 passengers – 335 with a 2 class configuration, it has a lower range of 7 400 nm. The A340-5 was launched to compete with Boeing’s 777-2LR, it has a 8 650 nm range, it can carry more people than the A340-300 (around 350). It is bigger than the A340-2/3, the A340-6 being even longer and taller, which allows it to carry more than 400 passengers, with a maximum range of 7 700 nm. The A340-6 was a true 777-300ER competitor, but like its other A340s brothers, its 4 engines make it more fuel hungry and its range doesn’t compete with the 777-300ER.

The 777-300ER is the true reason why the last launched A340-5/6 were a “commercial failure”. The 777-300ER reaches a max range of 7 930 nm, with a seating capacity of more than 400 passengers. It is close to the A340-6′s performances but the 777-300ER burns less fuel, it is the current most important point.

The A340 is a huge success in many ways

First, it allowed Airbus to compete with Boeing on the “big plane” market – even if the A340 program is based on the A310 design and the A320 cockpit design, it was a necessary step to launch the A380 and the A350. It made of Airbus a serious player.

Second, the A340 is a great plane, and it is still a relative commercial success. As I said before, Airbus sold around 400 A340s, which is a good number. The A340 is also a safe and reliable plane, even if a few A340s were written off, no “serious crash” – and mortal crash- occurred with the A340 – yet. Many of the biggest international carriers use or used the A340, Air France being one of the main A340 operator.

Third, this is – to me – one of the prettiest bird ever created. The A340-5 is a beautiful aircraft for instance.

Thank god we will still be flying the A340 all around the world for years, but more and more carriers are getting rid of their A340s. By the time the A350 will be flying for a carrier, the A340 will be more and more a rare bird. The “big players” – like Emirates, Air France, Lufthansa, … – are already planning on using A350s, 787s, 747-8s and A380s to replace their A340s.